Movie notes: Prepare for ‘Hunger Games’ mania!

Here’s something I learned last weekend: The quickest way to irritate a fan of “The Hunger Games” is to call the central character “Katnip.”

Try it on the “Hunger Games” fanatic in your house. Believe me, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. The more you do it, the funnier it gets. (Or maybe not; my daughter points out that Gale, her best friend, also calls her that. But it still seemed to be a bit of an irritant, which was encouraging).

“The Hunger Games” cries out for a little ribbing from nonfans, since this is serious business. Deadly serious. The first book of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling young adult trilogy about a dystopian future world in which teens duel to the death on live TV opens Thursday night with tons of sold-out screenings across the country. Fans have been waiting a long time for this, including several of my family members and co-workers. They don’t cotton to know-nothings like me poking fun at the trilogy’s heroine — intrepid, courageous Katniss Everdeen.

Sorry. Please put down Katniss’ bow. Now.

Here’s something else that’s like poking them with a sharp stick — comparing “Hunger Games” to the “Twilight” franchise, like scads of folks have this week. The comparisons are pretty obvious — both are incredibly popular series that target young-adult readers but have a substantial grownup following. But “Hunger Games” fans spit bullets at the thought of being in the same sentence as Stephenie Meyer’s lightweight, overwrought series.

I know, because this also happened to me this very morning. And unlike the Katnip remark, it was unintentional.

In light of that, fans might enjoy this sentence from a “Hunger Games” preview by Fresno Bee critic Rick Bentley: ” Even ‘Twilight’ writer Stephenie Meyer blogged that the story kept her up for several nights in a row because she couldn’t stop thinking about it even after she finished the books.”

Anyway, online ticket seller Fandango reports more than 1,000 sold-out screenings after midnight Thursday. Several San Antonio multiplexes have already sold out some shows. At the Santikos Palladium, the plan is essentially “Deathly Hallows, Part 2” all over again — starting at midnight Thursday, every screen will be devoted to “The Hunger Games.”

Chances are that won’t be an overreaction, writes analyst Ray Subers of BoxOfficeMojo.com. If anything, he expects “Hunger Games” to have more crossover appeal than “Twilight,” mainly because guys may actually go see it. That’s because the love triangle that was central to “Twilight” is in “The Hunger Games” “merely a component of a broader story that centers around teens fighting to the death in the post-apocalyptic equivalent of ‘Survivor,’ ” he wrote.

And somehow, the folks at Lionsgate Pictures managed to cram this all into a PG-13 movie, mainly by emphasizing the characters and how they react under pressure instead of showing the fatal shots in graphic detail. Or so I’ve read.

And though no one I know would be dissuaded by bad reviews, the early reviews have been encouraging. In fact, “The Hunger Games” boasts a perfect score of 100 on the Tomatometer at this moment. And it isn’t just kneejerk praise from fanboys and fangirls rushing to post their thoughts after the first round of screenings. Four top critics have weighed in, including Christy Lemire of the Associated Press, as have a handful of British scribes.

This tout from Robbie Collen of London’s Daily Telegraph is exactly what fans have been hoping for: ” ‘The Hunger Games’ is an essential science fiction film for our times; perhaps the essential science fiction film of our times. Whatever your age, it demands to be devoured.”

And he refrains from poking fun at anyone or punning on certain character names. Smart guy.

(NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably mention I’m hurriedly trying to change my nonfan status in time for the movie’s opening to maintain an illusion of pop-cultural literacy. My librarian wife bought me a paperback copy yesterday — her library’s six copies of “Hunger Games” are always checked out — and I’ll probably see the movie with the family this weekend. Provided I promise to keep my snark button unpushed).